Hurricanes 2020
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@Canes4life Flanders is only 20 years old, so give him a few years before judging.
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Fair call, he looks like a real talent from what I've seen. Hopefully he gets a good trot this year.
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@Machpants you aren't wrong. Just hope we can buck that trend with what looks to be a promising engine room. If they can get a stable platform then we have the weapons to do the job, just need a steady 10 to guide the ship.
I would really have liked to see the signing of Lincoln McClutchie - a little general worth investing in IMO.
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My top 23 for next year:
- Fraser Armstrong
- Dane Coles (c)
- Tyrel Lomax
- Scott Scrafton
- Isaia Walker-Leawere
- Vaea Fifita
- Ardie Savea
- Gareth Evans
- TJ Perenara
- James Marshall
- Ben Lam
- Ngani Laumape
- Vince Aso
- Wes Goosen
- Jordie Barrett
- Asafo Aumua
- Xavier Numia
- Alex Fidow
- James Blackwell
- Du Plessis Kirifi
- Jamie Booth
- Fletcher Smith
- Peter Umaga-Jensen
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@Jonty-lean Fidow isn't a loosehead.
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@Canes4life Agree with that, except:
I think Rakete-Stones is better than Numia, so I'd give R-S the 17 jersey.
Toala is an excitement machine. I'd put him at 23. I can see him challenge Laumape for the 12 jersey; maybe not this year, but I can see it happen. -
Can anyone remember who our first fives were way back in the days when the Canes still played at Athletic Park and Mel Arnold (or whoever that curly haired 1st five from Canterbury) was in the squad. This years bunch of first fives might struggle to outrate that one.
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@Stargazer I think you could go either way with that reserve loosehead position. I actually think Numia and PRS could surpass Armstrong by the seasons end, I only have him starting initially because of experience.
Same with the reserve 23 jersey, you could probably have Toala, Tiatia, Proctor or Umaga Jensen in there and they would all be nothing to sneeze at.
I have Marshall starting at 10, but I think they should go with a punt and give the first five jersey to Jordie.
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@Canes4life As long as it isn't JGB at 10/22. He's shouldn't be anywhere near the 23.
I think Fletcher Smith is reasonable option, too.
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@Stargazer I'm Welly through and through and even I don't want to see JGB there. Happy to be proven wrong though.
How is this for a curve ball, what about Tiatia at 10? Seems to be intelligent, a good communicator and on recent Mitre 10 Cup form he has all the skills to be a first five.
In fact I remember him playing for Wellington there in a pre season match a wee while back and he looked dangerous every time he touched the ball.
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@Stargazer you will be pissed if Van Wyk gets a crack before Lowe.
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@Canes4life I'll be pissed if he gets a crack before any NZ player except JGB.
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A big plus for the Canes is that they have 30 returning players in that squad who will be out for revenge after narrowly losing to the Crusaders this year. That will fuel there season.
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@Stargazer Kobus van Wyk rooted from Paarl Gymnasium and is a very good player. Played most of his rugby in the midfield and changed to wing later. He competed with the two Bok wingers at the Sharks and probably the reason for him going.
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@OomPB yeah not a bad signing after losing Rayasi to the sevens, I'd hate to say it @Stargazer but he is probably the more proven performer and has a fairly handy highlight real on Youtube. The fact the Canes have so many outside backs could very well mean they are looking at JB as a first five option.
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@OomPB said in Hurricanes 2020:
@Stargazer Kobus van Wyk rooted from Paarl Gymnasium and is a very good player. Played most of his rugby in the midfield and changed to wing later. He competed with the two Bok wingers at the Sharks and probably the reason for him going.
Do you know why he was not selected by any of the other Sth African Super Teams? Other than they mostly appear to be in the poop financially there has to be a reason for this. Sth Africa kindly let the Hurricanes have that seven foot five lock last season and lowe and behold he broke down and was invalided out before a ball was even kicked, no wonder they did not want him! Hopefully this guy is not of the same fragility.
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@Canes4life He may or may not be a proven performer; he may or may not be good. I just don't agree with him blocking the development of young NZ players if he gets game time instead of any of (in alphabetical order) Aso, Barrett, Goosen, Lam, Laumape, Lowe, Proctor, Tiatia, Toala or Umaga-Jensen. I don't see why the Canes need this signing with all the talent already available in the squad. Why couldn't they replace Rayasi with a NZ player?
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@OomPB The Canes CEO on van Wyk -
Hurricanes chief executive Avan Lee said van Wyk's arrival came in large part due to coach John Plumtree's connections in South Africa, where he coached and played for 15 years over two stints.
"John has obviously spent a lot of time in South Africa, so he knows a lot of people over there. Kobus' name came up and then John and [assistant coach] Jason Holland had a look at him play and he was really keen to come out. "We're really excited by that. Super Rugby is an international competition, but having foreign players in New Zealand doesn't happen that often. He's been picked on ability first, but I think it's cool for fans to have a bit of international flavour."
